Multiverse Gourmet Hunter

Hayama Akira carried his dish to the five judges.

”Spice-Roasted Flying Duck Leg. Please enjoy.”

Caramel-colored Hundred-Fruit Honey coated the tender Flying Duck meat in an even amber glaze. Beneath the lights, it shone like the warmest rays of an autumn sun.

The sight alone was enough to make mouths water.

”The Flying Duck was marinated in a secret spice blend... This aroma is almost impossible to resist.”

Charme drew a deep breath.

The rich, complex fragrance lingered around his nose, and he could not tear his gaze from the plate.

”Just smelling it makes me feel as though I’m melting,” Anne murmured, her cheeks faintly flushed and her eyes filled with anticipation. ”I can hardly imagine what it will be like once it enters my mouth.”

”Then let us begin,” Nakiri Senzaemon declared.

He picked up his knife and fork as he spoke.

The blade passed through the Flying Duck with a soft sound, cutting it cleanly apart. Tender juices slowly seeped from the meat, causing the fragrance to surge once again.

The other four judges immediately followed and began tasting.

The instant the impossibly tender meat touched their tongues, a spicy yet luxuriantly fragrant force pierced through their senses like a sharpened spear and drove straight into their souls.

Their sleeping palates awakened.

Every taste bud seemed to cry out in delight.

The stimulating heat of the spices, the gentle sweetness of the Hundred-Fruit Honey, the tenderness of the Flying Duck, and the deep fragrance of the seasoning collided and blended wildly within their mouths.

The spices possessed an astonishing number of layers.

There was a forceful, aggressive heat, followed by a gentle sweetness. Beneath that lay a deep woody aroma and the lively freshness of herbs.

More than a dozen spices had been used, yet their flavors never became disordered.

Instead, they achieved perfect balance, supporting and enhancing one another while elevating the Flying Duck’s tender savoriness to its absolute limit.

It was an intoxicating feast of flavor from which the judges could not escape.

Even after they swallowed, the captivating fragrance remained trapped between their lips and teeth and lingered inside their noses.

Senzaemon and Leonora immediately displayed their respective forms of ”bursting” once again.

Seeing their reactions, Hayama allowed a faint smile to appear.

However, when he turned toward Haruto, Soma, and Kurokiba, his expression became serious once more.

This dish represented the current limit of his abilities.

Even so, he had no confidence that it would be enough to win.

After Hayama, Kurokiba Ryo lifted his platter and approached the judges.

The rich fragrance of Flying Duck and spices still hung in the air, but Kurokiba’s expression did not waver in the slightest.

”Next is contestant Kurokiba Ryo’s dish!”

Kawashima Urara’s voice rose with perfectly measured excitement, drawing the attention of the audience, judges, and other contestants toward him.

”What kind of creation will Kurokiba Ryo, a chef renowned for seafood cuisine, present to us today? What unique dish will he reveal?”

Kurokiba wasted no time on unnecessary words.

He placed his platter on the table before the five judges, raised his eyes, and spoke with wild aggression.

”Eat it—French-Braised Bacon-Wrapped Great Sea Serpent!”

At that moment, Kurokiba resembled a beast preparing to pounce.

The dish was the claw with which he intended to tear every opponent apart.

The food on the plate immediately drew every gaze.

Perfectly prepared Great Sea Serpent meat had been tightly wrapped in even layers of bacon.

After braising, the serpent flesh had turned a warm pale pink, contrasting beautifully with the bacon’s roasted golden-brown surface.

A clear, thick sauce coated the rolls and slowly pooled beneath them, tracing enticing curves across the plate.

The bacon fat had seeped deep into the serpent meat, making the already delicate flesh appear even fuller and more succulent.

The dish carried a satisfying visual weight before anyone had even tasted it.

”Wow! It looks so... substantial!”

Leonora was the first to voice her amazement.

The presentation immediately caught her eye.

”The way the bacon fat has soaked into it perfectly emphasizes the Great Sea Serpent’s rich flesh and abundant juices. Just looking at it, I can already imagine how succulent it must be!”

Wrapped in bacon, the serpent meat had gained another layer of deep smokiness, and the character of the two ingredients had merged seamlessly.

Its aroma lacked the aggressive force of Hayama’s dish, but it was steady and profound, slipping into the nose in persistent wisps that invited closer attention.

”Hmph. It has already lost in fragrance alone,” Charme scoffed.

”A man who relies on bluster and intimidation could never produce anything capable of truly moving the palate.”

Soma’s dish had excelled through ingenuity and visual impact. Hayama’s had filled the entire arena with an overwhelming fragrance, creating the ultimate feast for the nose.

In comparison, Kurokiba’s French-Braised Bacon-Wrapped Great Sea Serpent seemed somewhat restrained in both aroma and presentation—almost unremarkable.

Kurokiba’s eyes immediately sharpened at Charme’s criticism.

He glared at the judge and answered with open hostility.

”Quit talking and eat it. It’ll get cold if you leave it sitting there.”

”Anyone who wastes good food has no right to run their mouth.”

”What did you say, you bastard?!”

Charme slammed a hand against the table and shot to his feet.

”Do I need to teach you how to behave before a judging panel?”

”Don’t think being a Totsuki student gives you permission to act this arrogant and disrespectful!”

His criticism had admittedly been deliberately harsh, but testing a contestant’s composure was part of judging.

Kurokiba’s attitude, however, genuinely infuriated him.

The atmosphere in the arena instantly became tense.

”That is enough.”

Anne interrupted their glaring contest with a helpless expression.

”The quality of a dish can only be judged after tasting it. Arguing before then is meaningless.”

Although Kurokiba’s presentation was less immediately spectacular than the previous two, the dish itself still appeared excellent.

The comparison merely made it seem somewhat subdued.

Ultimately, flavor was what mattered.

At Anne’s words, Charme reluctantly sat back down.

He stopped provoking Kurokiba, though he continued glaring at him.

Senzaemon slowly raised his eyes, studying both the dish and the wild expression on Kurokiba’s face.

”Do not waste any more time. Begin tasting.”

The other four judges nodded and picked up their utensils.

Anne moved first.

The instant her knife entered the meat roll, she noticed an unexpected contrast in texture.

Despite the long braising process, the bacon wrapped around the outside retained a perfectly measured crispness rather than becoming soft and soggy.

Once her blade cut through the bacon, it revealed Great Sea Serpent meat that had been braised to flawless tenderness.

”Ah... Despite being cooked for so long, the serpent meat has become soft enough to melt in the mouth, while the bacon still preserves a delicate crispness.”

Anne’s eyes flashed with surprise.

”The contrast is exquisite.”

She lifted the sliced roll toward her nose and breathed in. Her expression immediately relaxed.

”Before cooking, he marinated it in a spice blend and wine from a Wine Coconut. That removed the seafood’s unpleasant odor and replaced it with a clean, mellow fragrance.”

”The layers are far richer than its appearance suggests.”

Hearing her explanation, some of the disdain in Charme’s expression began to fade, replaced by closer scrutiny.

He glanced at Kurokiba, who remained as defiant as ever.

Apparently, the boy possessed more than mere aggression. His culinary fundamentals were genuinely impressive.

Of course, they would need to taste the dish before reaching any final conclusion.

While the judges continued examining it, Kurokiba stepped forward and announced with a savage grin,

”I packed explosives inside it.”

”This is the detonator that’s going to blow all of you away.”